6 Dangerous outcomes for students

Perhaps the most concerning aspect of the inconsistency highlighted so far is explained through the very commonly occurring learning process (due to its not being easily switched off) of observational learning theory [17]:

‘ ... learning that occurs through observing the behaviour of others. It is a form of social learning which takes various forms, based on various processes. In humans, this form of learning seems to not need reinforcement to occur, but instead, requires a social model such as a parent, sibling, friend, or teacher with surroundings.’ 

Narrowing down this broad statement to a school context, The Nature and Functions of Classroom Rules, Boorstrom. R. (2014) [18] identifies what students might learn through their interaction with classroom rules:

‘ … classroom rules are not merely the instrumental tools of management they are often taken to be, but rather that they are structures of meaning used by teachers and students to make sense of the world. Two functions of classroom rules are examined: how they embody a way of life and how they shape instruction and subject matter. As students embrace rules (or reject them, for that matter), they engage not only in short-term behaviours but also in far-reaching ways of thinking about themselves and the world.’

At this point it is worthwhile establishing what 'sense' students might be making of the world in light of such inconsistent systems, as well as the kind of ‘far-reaching ways of thinking about themselves and the world’ which might ensue. 

Citing The Contribution of Parenting Practices and Parent Emotion Factors in Children at Risk for Disruptive Behaviour Disorders, Jill Ceder provides an introduction [19]: 

‘Inconsistency can be confusing for children. If one day mom yells about something a child does, but the next day she tolerates it, the child learns that adult responses are not predictable. This can cause children to develop aggression and hostility, or complacency and passivity.

When children face unpredictability, they can become anxious. If children have to develop a large capacity to cope with anxiety at a young age, it can overwhelm their defences, and cause them to solve problems with undesired or inappropriate behaviour.’

Biologist Jeremy Griffith continues the discussion [20]: 

‘The increasingly thoughtful child can see the whole horribly upset world and would be understandably totally bewildered and deeply troubled by it. Eight-year-olds will only be beginning to be consciously troubled by the horror of the state of the world they have been born into, but by nine they will be overtly troubled by it and requiring a lot of reassurance that ‘Everything is going to be alright.’ In fact, nine-year-olds can be so troubled by the imperfection of the world that they go through a process of trying not to accept that it is true. By 10, this despair about the state of the world reaches desperation levels with nightmares of distress for children. It is a very unhappy, lonely, anxious, needing-of-love time for them. So at 11 some enter a ‘Peter Pan’ stage where they decide they don’t want to grow up; they decide they want to stay a child forever, surrounded by all the things they love, and not ever become part of the horror world they have discovered.’ (Para. 732)

Despite such examples directly referring to or implying parental inconsistencies, it is worth bearing in mind that time spent in schools accounts for a not insignificant twenty-three percent of a child's life.

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References:

17 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Observational_learning

18 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03626784.1991.11075363

19 https://www.verywellfamily.com/why-does-consistency-matter-in-parenting-4135227 

20 ‘Freedom; the end of the human condition’ Griffith, J., (2016) see: https://www.humancondition.com/freedom-cover/